The time has come for all of us to take a step back and look at what is happening here in our country. Innocent people are being killed, people with no criminal history or background. They are being rounded up like cattle and sent to holding facilities without an arrest warrant or due process for […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Oceano deserves a vehicle-free beach
First of all, I largely agree with all of the major points made by the commentary column authors (“Make a better plan,” Jan. 15). Rather than a habitat conservation plan, it is an expanded off-highway vehicle conservation plan. As pointed out, the environmental basis of the 2021 California Coastal Commission decision to phase out vehicles […]
Posted inOpinion
Government hawk
Sales tax ballot measure proposal season is here! I know it’s not officially a season, but it should be. In the run-up to election season, local governments ponder all the things they could do with a little extra sales tax revenue. In Lompoc, during this season of proposals it’s all about the roads. They need […]
Posted inOpinion
Why are we still running over plovers?
On March 18, 2021, the California Coastal Commission made the historic decision that off-road vehicles must be removed from Oceano Dunes because off-road vehicle use jeopardizes one of the world’s rarest coastal ecosystems and endangered wildlife (not to mention harming local public health and air quality). Four years later, the court struck down the Coastal […]
Posted inOpinion
Restore Oceano’s natural defenses
The draft 2025 Soil Conservation Plan for Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area is a disappointing endorsement for hauling our beautiful beach to the dump. For years, massive amounts of sand have been tracked out on vehicle tires from the Grand and Pier Avenue exits, resulting in tons of sand being hauled to landfills—an estimated […]
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Who’s counting?
In the stand-off to see who wins in the great pipeline battle of the 2020s, it seems like Sable Offshore Corporation’s closer to the finish line than environmental organizations want it to be. In May 2025, the oil company began pumping oil from its offshore oil platforms to its onshore facility in Las Flores Canyon, […]
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Shortsighted politicians never consider the impacts of their decisions
What do you do when you have a significant government budget deficit? If you are a politician in Santa Barbara County or the governor of California, you double down on shutting off revenue flows. Both the state of California and Santa Barbara County are facing significant budget shortfalls; according to the state Legislative Analyst’s Office, […]
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Let’s work together to find peace
Freedom is peace, and peace is freedom. Peace. We all seek peace. In our lives. In our families. Among our friends and neighbors. In our country, and in the world. But we may ask ourselves, “Is peace even attainable?” And, “Is there anything I can do to bring peace into my life and into the […]
Posted inOpinion
At least we Californians passed Proposition 50 legally
I would like to inform John Donegan (“The ideological spirit of California Supreme Court Justice Rose Bird lives on with Proposition 50,” Jan. 1) that the only reason we in California needed Proposition 50 is because of Trump insisting on illegal gerrymandering in Texas and other states. At least we did it legally! Jacqueline Claire […]
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Shock factor
Northern Santa Barbara County is rounding out 2025 with an alleged maternal filicide case that’s captured national interest. It’s a shocking case in which a 9-year-old girl from Vandenberg Village was murdered and left on the side of a remote road in Utah, where she stayed for weeks before being discovered. It’s sad on a […]
Posted inOpinion
The ideological spirit of California Supreme Court Justice Rose Bird lives on with Proposition 50
There is a lot of talk these days about gerrymandering, both in the context of Proposition 50 and in a pending challenge to a part of the Voters Rights Act of 1965 that requires that race be considered in redistricting so that a minority can be assured of districts in which they dominate. It seems […]
Posted inOpinion
Let’s spew out some big numbers for the people to love
President Trump’s recent staccato-like speech to the nation featured a host of big percentages, apparently to mask the little percentages in the 30s showing plummeting support for his economic policies. Our No. 47 boasted that the price of eggs was down 82 percent since March. Illegal drugs are down 94 percent. Also, 100 percent of […]
